Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix to claim his first race victory since 2021 - as Mercedes driver beats Max Verstappen and Lando Norris

Lewis Hamilton is the King of Silverstone again! The most successful driver in history claimed his first win in 945 days in front of a jubilant British Grand Prix crowd.

The Mercedes man, claiming a record-extending ninth victory at his home race, told the team: 'Leave me to it, mate.' That was just after he had taken the lead with 12 laps remaining. A loud cheer went up. He has been this place's darling for two decades and 163,000 souls welcomed him home.

'Thanks guys,' squeaked an emotional Hamilton, his voice breaking. 'This means a lot to me. I love you guys.'

His last win was in December 2021 – in Saudi Arabia, the race before his life turned upside down in Abu Dhabi, where he lost out so controversially to Max Verstappen – a day that that will live in infamy. Now this. A redemptive solace on the stage he has commanded like no other.

He embraced his father, Anthony, for 20 seconds. Tears flowed. Later a long hug with his mother, Carmen.

Echoes of the past poured down. It was here 16 years ago that Hamilton unfurled one of the greatest drives ever seen, in 2008, in blanket wet conditions. This time rain came and went, bringing a delicious jeopardy into the equation, as it had in qualifying when George Russell grabbed pole 24 hours earlier. He was handed a Union Flag on his warm-down lap held aloft in his fluorescent yellow right glove.

In truth, this might have been Lando Norris's win, but he was kept out one lap too many on intermediate tyres and then his the stop was painfully slow, 4.5 seconds. In those two missteps from his McLaren team – too rusty to be nimble fighting at the front, it seems – victory went. He might have won the last four races and has won none of them.

While McLaren conduct a post-mortem, Hamilton can only celebrate. On lap 39, the track drying, he was called in, and then went 1.2sec quicker in the middle sector than Norris on his obsolete inters. Then, Norris' stop. And that was it – Hamilton was away driving to a long-awaited victory.

How sweet for him, just as he was in danger of looking like an uncle to a new brood of stars. He was watched by his dad Anthony, who was with him in 2008 when he was lighting up the world.

Norris finished third, passed by Verstappen on the outside of Stowe. Russell retired with a suspected water system failure. A big blow to him. He turned the radio blue.

And it was all going smoothly for Russell up until the rain landed. He had got cleanly at the start, with Hamilton covering off Norris' attempt surge from third on the grid. Nothing much happened until lap 18 when forecasts of rain materialised into reality. At first, just spots.

Hamilton, lying second, found his feet in the tricky conditions, reprising old glories. Russell was not quite Bamby on ice, but it was clear that his team-mate was the more assured. Hamilton made his move for the lead stick at Stowe.

Both Mercedes' ran off at the start of the next lap. That let Norris close the gap. He was now clearly the most potent player in the worsening conditions. On lap 20, the most exciting, see-sawing of the afternoon, Norris passed Russell at Copse. Then, after a good exit from the final bend of the lap he launched himself well into the Hamilton Straight, of all ironies, to pass the eponymous hero at Abbey, the first corner.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri, too, overtook the two Mercedes and led. But the Australian was later let down by a late stop – a McLaren curse. This gave Norris the lead. Until Hamilton, capitalising on events, came and saw and conquered.

'I love you, Bono,' Hamilton told his race engineer Peter Bonington. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before getting out of the car. He stood on it. He held the flag aloft.